The Last Guardian

Chapter_38: All the King's horses

Johnathan didn't sleep that night, he went into his room and sat on a chair and looked through the open window at the night sky. Farid had given him a room on the top floor of his shop. Minutes turned into hours and he kept thinking about what happened to him earlier, Why God himself intervened and rescued him? Is this mission of his so important that heaven itself came to his rescue? What more powers could he discover? He realized that now he was more powerful and deadly than the average soldier, even without any weapons, he could cause serious harm and he understood that he needed to be more responsible with his powers. There were things to do- find the seal and keep it safe, protect the people of the city from the monsters and demons that the Darkness conjures and finally defeat the darkness itself. He realized that the Darkness is not something that he could easily defeat. Surely he has iron flowing through his veins, he couldn't get hurt even with bullets or bombs, his Katana could kill anything with a single blow, he has the mysterious ability to manipulate time- which he hadn't tested again and the newly attained rings of fire that made his punches super strong!

He remembered about what Brother Farid had said earlier about levelling up. If these powers come in levels than he had already attained Five Levels- five mind blowing superhuman levels and there were more!

All these thoughts made him too excited to sleep and he kept looking through the window at the Full moon outside- it wouldn't be long before the moon sets and the sun rises so he kept enjoying the late night ambience. Brother Farid was sleeping along with his wife and Billy had gone home, wherever that was. He always thought there was something mysterious about Billy- he was hiding something and then there was the case of the Vamps and the Mafia. He thought someday he would ask him but until then he could enjoy his newly attained powers...

It was exactly 3:00 a.m. and the moon was starting to hide behind the dark monsoon clouds. Johnathan was drowsy and his eyes were starting to get heavy when suddenly a strange noise woke him up. It was a howl- like a dog's howl. He got up from his chair and stood near the window- there it was again- a long howl! He looked around, but all he could see were dark buildings and streets and the silent night sky.

"What the hell is this?" he said to himself, "If this is a dog then it is a pretty big one- like a wolf- a werewolf?"

Now this was a surprise for him but after angels and demons, why wouldn't werewolves exist too he thought and observed the streets from his room. Suddenly he saw something from the corner of his eye - something like a bird flying across the sky in the distance. He looked again but it was gone. But a moment later, another flying apparition flew across the building two miles away. He couldn't make out exactly what it was and all he could see was a shadow flying swiftly from one roof to another and then it was gone!

"God! Will I ever get to rest?", he said to himself.

And there it was again- this time he saw a flying figure- almost humanoid resting on top of building one kilometer away from his room- it looked human like but it had wings!

Johnathan knew that this was definitely some kind of monster and he quickly reached for his sword and then he heard the howl again. This time the howl seemed to be coming from somewhere far towards the northern part of the city. He thought he should go looking for it and end whatever monstrosity it were. He was almost ready to go out but something made him freeze.

In the distance, far away, where he had seen the humanoid figure on the roof, he saw a swarm of flying creatures, all flying together from one place to another and they seem to he looking for something. This time he noticed that they had bat-like wings and there were literally hundreds of them.

"Bats?", he said to himself.

"No- Goblins!!", cried Brother Farid quickly entering his room.

"Do not let them see you- hide!" he said.

"What are you doing up so late?" asked Johnathan.

"I woke up when I heard the howl and I came to see if you're all right-" said Farid.

"Yeah I heard it too- what do you think it was?" he asked.

"A Lycanthrope-"said Farid nervously hiding himself behind the window curtains and peeping outside.

"Lycan- what?" whispered Johnathan.

"A werewolf and judging by it's sound- an Alpha!" Farid whispered back.

"Goblins and werewolves? Strange!" said Johnathan.

"The Goblins are minions- and they can only be brought to life by someone who knows black magic- the werewolf- I don't know but I am sure, if there's an Alpha- there's a pack somewhere too- Ah! Why did it have to be Goblins?" said Farid.

"What's so dangerous about them?" asked Johnathan.

"Well they're menacing, annoying and they can't be killed easily- only their master can control them- lucky for you- these are all nocturnal creatures and as soon as the sun is out, they will be gone!" said Farid.

"Well I can fight them-"said Johnathan standing on the other side of the window.

"You and what army? Whoever brought them to life is cunning- the Goblins will keep you distracted and then the werewolves will finish the job! This time this isn't a single entity- you'll be fighting hundreds of them together...and yes no weapon can hurt you but the claws and teeth cab tear you apart and you'll be as good as dead!" explained Farid.

"Okay so what do we do now?" asked Johnathan.

"For now- hide. You can't let them know about your location- it's not safe to start a battle here- innocent people will be hurt. Just wait until the sun comes out and in the morning we will find a way-"said Farid.

"Ridiculous! I can distract them towards a deserted place and finish them off- Billy and Raven can help- " said Johnathan.

"Listen to me my friend- I will help you unlock another level tomorrow- so until then, have patience-" said Farid placing his hand on his shoulder.

"Brother Farid-"said Johnathan removing his hand from his shoulder, "I appreciate your concern but I should finish this as quick as possible or else they might hurt someone innocent in order to get to me-"

"Innocent like who? Lisa?" asked Farid.

"Yeah! Lisa and they might even come after your family or God forbid they might hurt someone who has nothing to do with this- I can't wait for powers to arrive as they harm others- I'm a Guardian- and moreover I have heaven watching over me!" said Johnathan and jumped off the window with his sword tied to his back.

Farid couldn't stop him and cursed himself for letting him go but he knew Johnathan was a true soldier who would rather sacrifice his own life than letting someone else get hurt. But he knew that this was a mistake- he was not ready to fight a horde of monsters all together. But what could he do- Johnathan was a hot headed impulsive young man...

He immediately went downstairs and picked up his telephone and dialed Billy's number- days like this he thought that he should have brought himself a smartphone...

Johnathan easily landed on the street two stories below. He then stood up and looked towards the sky- he could see those Goblins flying in a swarm above the Watch Tower which was almost 1500 metres tall. He began walking towards it and then he started running. He heard the howl again but this time there was another howl in response and then moments later another howl.

"The pack is gathering-I can't let them organize!" he thought and began running faster in the empty street.

His only plan was to kill the Alpha before it could gather it's pack and avoid the Goblins in the process- they were miles away and they couldn't see him yet.

He stopped for a while and listened, the big long howl seemed to be coming from east side- there was a city park and beyond that a cemetery. He thought that the cemetery would be the best place to find the werewolf. So he ran as fast as he could before the sun came out.

"I should've brought the truck!" he regretted.

But then he remembered, he could sprint faster with his iron legs.

"Come on legs- help me out here-" he said to himself and took a leap.

To his amazement, he leapt almost 6 meters ahead. Realizing that he could do it again, he leapt again- this time his legs carried him far above the ground- almost a meter high. He knew he could do it again and this time with full force, he leapt into the air and his legs pushed him ten meters off the ground- it was working, he had almost covered half the distance- five kilometers more and he would reach the cemetery- he ran and gained some momentum and then leapt into the air- each time he went higher and higher...

Deep inside the city in an unknown location sat Dmitri along with his goons. He wore a red cloak and covered his face with a hood. In front of him was a pentagram drawn on the table and the giant old Necronomicon book was opened in front of him. There were five candles lit on five points of the pentagram. His goons stood behind him watching him perform strange and dark rituals- there was a small copper bowl with blood of an animal in it-

"By Rasputin's beard! It is working-" Dmitri laughed "I have successfully completed the ritual- the dark forces are here- they'll find the Guardian and end him!!

His laughter echoed throughout the room and his men stood in silence in fear as he raised his arms and chanted magical words in praise of the Darkness!!